© Oom Rugby
Hi guys.
For today I wanted to look at the very exciting quarter final between the Lions and the Crusaders coming up this weekend. The Crusaders seems like a team who does not make mistakes and has no vulnerabilities, but we know that everybody have a weakness somewhere… When I watch the Crusaders game against the Hurricanes there was one little opportunity I notice, and maybe it is worth to talk about it to see what you think.
When we look at the Crusader defence in the picture above, what do we see guys? We see that some defenders is committed to the ruck, and some is moving across to the threat in the next channel. But we also see a opportunity in the middle channel where there is a space. There is no connection between the outside defenders and the rest of the defensive group.
Here it happen again. Crusader defence is bunched in inside channels, Hurricanes set a target in the next channel, and a space open up in the middle channel. The outside men is disconnected from the rest of their team. Something to notice is that the Hurricanes is on 10th phase. So they kept the ball tight, kept the strike points narrow, and did not risk many offloads. As they did this the Crusader defenders start to get sucked inside.
Again it happen. Hurricanes plays from a ruck on the left, set a target to lock the Crusaders in the 10/12 channel, and a space open up as the Saders outside defence become disconnected.
Why is this happening? One reason is that the Hurricanes make it happen with tighter play. For instance the Hurricanes pick and drive from rucks 19 times in this game. So the Crusaders was forced to come inside as they try to fight this kind of narrow carries. The other reason is that the Saders do it to themselves… They are a team who like to spread out on defence – they prefer to use their men in the line as oppose to using them to contest at rucks. And because they spread out like this, when the inside get sucked in, the outside can lose touch.
Especially because tactically the outside defenders was being kept there by the presence of one or two Hurricanes attackers who stand wide. And also the Crusaders wanted to cover cross kicks by Barrett. So they was trying to fight two perceive threats, one is inside and one is outside, and because they stretch, a gap open in between.
It happen often in this game and it cost the Crusaders, like one of the tries the Hurricanes scored above. We can clearly see how the outside defender is trying to come back in to connect, but it is too late. And notice again that is the 9th phase. The Hurricanes was patient with ball in hand and played narrower to suck in the Crusaders “spread” defence.
What does it mean for the Lions? If they want to exploit this tendency of Crusaders they must keep some attackers wide to “fix” the outside of the Saders line, and Elton must look at executing a cross kick early to keep the minds of the New Zealanders on defending the wide channel. Then to try and create this space and “disconnection” in the middle of the field the Lions must first keep it tight for a few phases to pull in defenders. They must be patient, keep it narrow and not take risks with offloads. Then if the space start to open up their strike move must be targeted at the 10/12 or even the 12/13 channel where a possible break have happened and there is a zone of uncertainty in the Crusaders line.
You know what is good news? The Lions is actually most deadly when they attack in that middle channel… It is a perfect fit for how they play off Elton. He like to take the ball up to the line near the 10/12 area and fix that defenders by playing very late. And the Lions also run very effective decoy lines around him. Their midfield plays have cause many teams a lot of trouble and confusion this year and they will test the Crusaders there too for sure.
So guys in the nutshell – the Lions is at their best not when they play wide, but when they run moves around their flyhalf, and that can play perfect into a possible weakness in the middle of the Crusader line if the Lions can magnify it.
Until next time!
Oom
Hi guys.
For today I wanted to look at the very exciting quarter final between the Lions and the Crusaders coming up this weekend. The Crusaders seems like a team who does not make mistakes and has no vulnerabilities, but we know that everybody have a weakness somewhere… When I watch the Crusaders game against the Hurricanes there was one little opportunity I notice, and maybe it is worth to talk about it to see what you think.
When we look at the Crusader defence in the picture above, what do we see guys? We see that some defenders is committed to the ruck, and some is moving across to the threat in the next channel. But we also see a opportunity in the middle channel where there is a space. There is no connection between the outside defenders and the rest of the defensive group.
Here it happen again. Crusader defence is bunched in inside channels, Hurricanes set a target in the next channel, and a space open up in the middle channel. The outside men is disconnected from the rest of their team. Something to notice is that the Hurricanes is on 10th phase. So they kept the ball tight, kept the strike points narrow, and did not risk many offloads. As they did this the Crusader defenders start to get sucked inside.
Again it happen. Hurricanes plays from a ruck on the left, set a target to lock the Crusaders in the 10/12 channel, and a space open up as the Saders outside defence become disconnected.
Why is this happening? One reason is that the Hurricanes make it happen with tighter play. For instance the Hurricanes pick and drive from rucks 19 times in this game. So the Crusaders was forced to come inside as they try to fight this kind of narrow carries. The other reason is that the Saders do it to themselves… They are a team who like to spread out on defence – they prefer to use their men in the line as oppose to using them to contest at rucks. And because they spread out like this, when the inside get sucked in, the outside can lose touch.
Especially because tactically the outside defenders was being kept there by the presence of one or two Hurricanes attackers who stand wide. And also the Crusaders wanted to cover cross kicks by Barrett. So they was trying to fight two perceive threats, one is inside and one is outside, and because they stretch, a gap open in between.
It happen often in this game and it cost the Crusaders, like one of the tries the Hurricanes scored above. We can clearly see how the outside defender is trying to come back in to connect, but it is too late. And notice again that is the 9th phase. The Hurricanes was patient with ball in hand and played narrower to suck in the Crusaders “spread” defence.
What does it mean for the Lions? If they want to exploit this tendency of Crusaders they must keep some attackers wide to “fix” the outside of the Saders line, and Elton must look at executing a cross kick early to keep the minds of the New Zealanders on defending the wide channel. Then to try and create this space and “disconnection” in the middle of the field the Lions must first keep it tight for a few phases to pull in defenders. They must be patient, keep it narrow and not take risks with offloads. Then if the space start to open up their strike move must be targeted at the 10/12 or even the 12/13 channel where a possible break have happened and there is a zone of uncertainty in the Crusaders line.
You know what is good news? The Lions is actually most deadly when they attack in that middle channel… It is a perfect fit for how they play off Elton. He like to take the ball up to the line near the 10/12 area and fix that defenders by playing very late. And the Lions also run very effective decoy lines around him. Their midfield plays have cause many teams a lot of trouble and confusion this year and they will test the Crusaders there too for sure.
So guys in the nutshell – the Lions is at their best not when they play wide, but when they run moves around their flyhalf, and that can play perfect into a possible weakness in the middle of the Crusader line if the Lions can magnify it.
Until next time!
Oom
